1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an assembly of two pieces of bodywork made of plastics material for joining edge to edge.
2. Description of Related Art
It is becoming more and more necessary for pieces of bodywork to be exactly positioned relative to each other in order to ensure that the appearance of a vehicle is satisfactory.
In this respect, various solutions have already been devised that consist in fixing each piece of bodywork accurately on the structure of the vehicle, while ensuring that adjacent pieces of bodywork benefit from fixing points that are adjacent or indeed identical at their contiguous edges.
The fastenings used in those solutions need to be relatively strong, since they serve to support the pieces of bodywork while also ensuring that they are properly in register.
Such fastenings are generally constituted by separate fasteners, often made of metal, and this gives rise to problems of cost, both in terms of procurement and in terms of labor.
More generally, adding metal or any other material different from that constituting the pieces of bodywork makes them more difficult to recycle.
The present invention seeks to provide a novel assembly of two pieces of bodywork which can be assembled together without requiring any external fastener and which ensures that the two pieces are positioned relative to each other with great accuracy.
The present invention provides an assembly of two pieces of bodywork of plastics material, each piece having an edge for coming into contact with an edge of the other piece, the assembly being characterized in that the edge of one of the pieces has a slot while the edge of the other piece has a tongue extending from the other piece and suitable for penetrating into said slot, so as to cause an end portion of said tongue to project beyond the slot, said tongue being pierced by a through orifice situated in its end portion, the other piece being provided with a cotter attached to said other piece by means of a deformable link which enables said cotter to be engaged in the through orifice of the tongue once the tongue has been inserted in the slot, thereby retaining the tongue in the slot.
In the invention, the term xe2x80x9ccotterxe2x80x9d is used to designate a piece that penetrates into the through orifice of the tongue in order to hold it in the slot.
It will be understood that the invention provides simple means for holding the edges of the two pieces in register in a manner that is simultaneously robust, simple, and quick, and without requiring any separate piece to be fitted.
As a result, it is easier to recycle the bodywork pieces, since the portions interconnecting them are made of the same material as the remainder of the pieces of bodywork.
In addition, because the pieces of bodywork of the invention are made of plastics material, obtaining a pierced tongue on one of them, and the slot and the cotter on the other one of them requires no more than suitable arrangements of the molds in which said pieces are made, and this is true of any molding technique that might be employed.
Nevertheless, in the invention, it is advantageous to shape the cotter and its deformable connection in such a manner as to avoid making the operation of unmolding the molded pieces more complicated. In other words, it is appropriate to ensure that the piece that includes the cotter does not require an undercut to be used merely because of the presence of said cotter.
In a particular embodiment of the invention, the connection connecting the cotter to the piece of bodywork which carries it begins in the vicinity of the slot and is shaped to form a strap suitable for being folded over so as to enable the cotter to penetrate into the through orifice in the tongue.
Preferably, the cotter comprises an insertion head of conical or prismatic shape enabling it to be guided during engagement in the through orifice, and a body of smaller thickness situated downstream from its head (in the direction for insertion into the through orifice). Because of the change in thickness relative to the body, the insertion head forms a retaining shoulder which holds the cotter in the insertion orifice after said insertion head has been pushed through with a small amount of force.
In addition, because of this body of reduced thickness, once the cotter is in place, the stresses imposed on the tongue while the insertion head is passing through are relaxed, thereby preserving the pieces of bodywork from the undesirable local deformation that could result from such stresses in the long run.
In a particular embodiment, in which each edge of a piece has a side face for making contact with the other edge, at least one of the pieces is provided with wedges cooperating with the corresponding contact side face to form a corner for receiving the edge of the other piece.
These wedges provide positioning in two perpendicular directions along the corner edge, e.g. in the X direction (longitudinally) and in the Y direction (transversally) relative to the vehicle if the corner edge is substantially vertical.
When both pieces have such wedges, the wedges are preferably arranged in a staggered configuration so as to avoid interfering with each other and they are offset towards the inside of the vehicle so as to pass behind the contact face of the other piece.
In a preferred variant, the staggered wedges are dimensioned on the two pieces of bodywork in such a manner that two adjacent wedges, each belonging to respective one of the pieces, lie close to each other when the two pieces are assembled together. In this way, the wedges also define relative positioning of the two pieces in a third direction parallel to the corner edge, and consequently perpendicular to the two above-mentioned directions.
The wedges are preferably prismatic in shape, the small base lying at the end of the wedge, thereby facilitating the approach between the two pieces of bodywork by acting as positioning guides along said third direction.
In a particular embodiment, the cotter is provided with a stub making it easier to insert into the through orifice of the tongue by providing a bearing surface, for example for the thumb of an operator or for a pair of pliers. Said stub preferably extends parallel to the tongue when the cotter is inserted in the through orifice. Thus, it is possible to bear against the tongue and the stub so as to move them towards each other, clamping one against the other, or so as to separate them, e.g. by inserting a screwdriver between them and using it as a wedge.
In a particular embodiment of the invention, the two pieces of bodywork comprise firstly a bumper, and secondly a fender or a piece of fender trim.